The guy who owns it knows must be real, because when he first noticed it, he had “a warm shiver through [his] body.” Yep, that warm shiver will prove it every time!

Folks, there’s nothing supernatural going on here. This is a well-known psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia. It is caused by the brain’s innate tendency to discern patterns from things, regardless of whether or not there is anything behind it.

In other words, seeing the Virgin Mary in this piece of wood, or in the discoloration of a window, is merely an artifact of neuropsychology. The appearance is only that — an appearance — and has no veracity.

Pareidolia explains all Virgin Mary sightings, as it does the “face on Mars,” Elvis sightings, and many other phenomena.

There is no “magic” here, no divine power manifest as a blog of stuff on a piece of wood … just plain old run-of-the-mill human nature. Nothing more.